Up With God!

[Sugar]

Come on, why are people so down on God? People have done terrible things in the past in the name of God, but that doesn't make God bad--it makes them stupid.

So we can't prove the existence of God. We can't prove his non-existence either. One would have to sweep all areas of space at all points in time in order to verify that God does not exist, has never existed, or will never exist.

And who, or what, is God anyway? Definitions vary from an old white male in a white robe, to the universe as a whole, to a wave of conscious energy. How can we completely disregard something if we can't even agree on what it is?

There's room for God in my concept of the universe. I don't think believing in him (or her, or it) makes me less intelligent or weak. If I reach the end of my days, and I discover that God does not exist, then the joke's on me....and I'll still have lived a rich and fulfilled life.

[nuffsed]

I believe in "Mother " Nature. Her works are all around to see. Often they are beautiful, sometimes shocking and awesome, often tainted by Man. We can't prove she exists, or engage with her for guidance. We can't prove that "She" is not God.
However, "Mother Nature" has never been accused of writing tablets of stone with human text. "She" never indicates that man has priority over all he surveys. All are equal in nature. All must struggle to survive. Only man, seems to have the capacity to quantify, and share resources, yet for the mostpart we follow leaders into war. Kill enough of your "enemy", and they will bend to your will, seems to be the message. That message has proven unreliable and costly throughout history.
Where God differs, we are told there are "chosen ones". We then take it that there are non-chosen ones. Heathens, savages, Barbarians whatever. And so the "chosen ones" are bid to convert or eliminate the non-chosen. Thus the obscenities of war are institutionalised in religion.
George Bush claims God is guiding him; "You are with us, or you are against us". If you are against "us", then no expense, or squeemishness or humanitarian consideration will get in the way of the fight against "evil".
I need a god that is clear and all encompassing. A god that cannot be re-interpreted and used. A logical god that influences all mankind to act responsibly to our planet and each other. I have no space in my heart or my head for the adulterated teachings of gospelites.
If god is; then I feel closer to god when thinking of nature.
Yes, with sadness, I would kill to survive. But my survival would not come under threat because I had defecated in my neighbours yard, or polluted his water in search of profit.
And if there is God, he knows my thinking and will judge as he sees fit. I'm very ok with that.

[mogadishu]

Come on, why are people so down on God? People have done terrible things in the past in the name of God, but that doesn't make God bad--it makes them stupid.

So we can't prove the existence of God. We can't prove his non-existence either. One would have to sweep all areas of space at all points in time in order to verify that God does not exist, has never existed, or will never exist.

And who, or what, is God anyway? Definitions vary from an old white male in a white robe, to the universe as a whole, to a wave of conscious energy. How can we completely disregard something if we can't even agree on what it is?

There's room for God in my concept of the universe. I don't think believing in him (or her, or it) makes me less intelligent or weak. If I reach the end of my days, and I discover that God does not exist, then the joke's on me....and I'll still have lived a rich and fulfilled life.

there's room for Godin lots of people's concepts of the universe, but there's nothing in science to suggest that the world was created or is looked after by a deity. but if people recognise in themselves a hidden capacity for pure conscience and want to nurture it and exalt it, fine.

[Sugar]

I believe in "Mother " Nature...We can't prove that "She" is not God.

If one believes that God created us (gave birth?), and that God nurtures our spirits throughout our lives, then it is very natural to think of God as being female.

George Bush claims God is guiding him

Yeah, lots of morons commit terrible atrocities in the name of God.

I need a god that is clear and all encompassing.

Sounds good!

[Sugar]

there's room for Godin lots of people's concepts of the universe, but there's nothing in science to suggest that the world was created or is looked after by a deity. but if people recognise in themselves a hidden capacity for pure conscience and want to nurture it and exalt it, fine.

Science doesn't dictate what exists and what doesn't exist, it merely attempts to explain what is already in existence.

[mogadishu]

it doesn't need to dictate it to explain that there's no reason for believing in the existence of a deity anywhere in the universe.

[Sugar]

it doesn't need to dictate it to explain that there's no reason for believing in the existence of a deity anywhere in the universe.

Certainly you're not suggesting that science has discovered everything in the universe, mogadishu. If that's so, then I guess we don't need science anymore.

[mogadishu]

Well. In all of the millions of scientific discoveries that have been made, throughout history, there has not been one iota of evidence to suggest that a deity exists.

[The-Prophet]

Well. In all of the millions of scientific discoveries that have been made, throughout history, there has not been one iota of evidence to suggest that a deity exists.

i disagree, the complexity of our exsistance proves that there is some spark that occurs to give us life. even to create one tiny tiny tiny bit of life is impossible for us with out so called "understanding"

[mogadishu]

Why? We might just be organic.

[Sugar]

Well. In all of the millions of scientific discoveries that have been made, throughout history, there has not been one iota of evidence to suggest that a deity exists.

Until science proves that without a doubt there is no God and there never has been, I'll keep God within the realm of possibilties. A good scientist would not completely disregard something without absolute proof.

[ali_mon_x]

God is out of date. I can't believe in most things unless they're scientifically proved, which is why I find it difficult to believe in a God which was deeply worshipped by those who used to believe in witchcraft and burn innocent people at the stake, while at the same time having very little scientific understanding. The people needed to be controlled so thousands of years ago I reckon someone just made up a story about there being a supposed god and news spread and was believed, since people were so superstitious. Plus the population was extremely low, so news spread quickly and then became ingrained in the generations that followed. Another thing that makes it difficult to believe in a god is the fact that people of other faiths can believe in several gods...so who's right, Hindus who believe in more than one god or Christians who believe in just the one?

Plus the whole creation story is ridiculous and has been disproved already.

[mogadishu]

Well. In all of the millions of scientific discoveries that have been made, throughout history, there has not been one iota of evidence to suggest that a deity exists.

Until science proves that without a doubt there is no God and there never has been, I'll keep God within the realm of possibilties. A good scientist would not completely disregard something without absolute proof.

You can't have positive proof of the non-existence of a non-existent thing. There's nothing to prove.

Sorry.

[JaneDoh2006]

faith in god doesn't need proof,faith by definition is a firm belief in something which doesn't require proof,
so if god provided evidence of his/her/its own existence it would be self defeating as man wouldn't need to have faith anymore.The almighty unknown would just be a proved theory then.

[Sugar]

God is out of date. I can't believe in most things unless they're scientifically proved, which is why I find it difficult to believe in a God which was deeply worshipped by those who used to believe in witchcraft and burn innocent people at the stake, while at the same time having very little scientific understanding. The people needed to be controlled so thousands of years ago I reckon someone just made up a story about there being a supposed god and news spread and was believed, since people were so superstitious. Plus the population was extremely low, so news spread quickly and then became ingrained in the generations that followed.

Hi ali! You seem to be referring to Christianity alone here. God, or gods, were worshipped long before Christianity came about 2000 years ago.

Another thing that makes it difficult to believe in a god is the fact that people of other faiths can believe in several gods...so who's right, Hindus who believe in more than one god or Christians who believe in just the one?

This is a valid point, and is similar to my original post in which I stated that there are many varying definitions for God. If we can't agree on who or what God is, or on how many gods there are, how can we state with any degree of confidence that God does not exist?

Plus the whole creation story is ridiculous and has been disproved already.

The creation story in the Bible was based almost word for word on older Babylonian tablets. It was likely meant to be an allegorical story for its readers. But disproving a man-made story still does not disrpove the existence of God.